LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 30/2018
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

 

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Bible Quotations
If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation

Second Letter to the Corinthians 01/01-07: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.”

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/18
Washington Post: Leaked Messages Confirm Qatar Paid Billions for Extremist Shi’ite Militias/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/
Pompeo’s thumbs up for Israel to counter Russian-backed Iranian drive in Syria/DEBKAfile:/April 29/18
Brexit Failure Looks More Likely Every Day/Barry Ritholtz/Bloomberg/April 29/18
A Nobel Prize for Trump and Kim Is No Joke/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/April 29/18
Pompeo After Meeting Netanyahu: If Iran Nuclear Deal Can't Be Fixed, It Will Be Nixed/Noa Landau and Jack Khoury/Haaretz/April 29/2018
Lebanese Shiites, too prominent to be monopolized by anyone/Hassan Al Mustafa//Al Arabiya/April 29/18/
Iraq: Not a functioning state, but we think it is/Adnan Hussein/Al Arabiya/April 29/18
The new UN envoy’s almost impossible mission with the Houthis/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/April 29/18
 
Titles For Latest LCCC Lebanese Related News published on April 29-30/18
Lebanese Military, Security Forces Finalize Preparations ahead of Parliamentary Polls
2nd Round of Lebanese Expat Voting Kicks Off in 33 Nations
Aoun Expresses Satisfaction over 2nd Round of Expat Voting
Mashnouq 'Proud' of Expat Vote despite 'Minor Mistakes'
Lebanese Vote in Ivory Coast after Only 2.3% Register
U.S. Says Won’t Interfere in Lebanese Expats Right to Vote
Australia's Lebanese Enthusiastic as Expat Voting Begins
Maronite Patriarch: Real Estate Acquisition Must Not Be Linked to Residency, Citizenship or Naturalization
Sami Gemayel: Voters to Choose Between Debilitating Authority and Devoted Opposition
Kataeb candidate for the Maronite seat in Batroun, Samer Saade: I Don't Seal Under-the-Table Deals
Jumblat to Supporters: Our Existence Hinges on High Voter Turnout
Funeral Held for Lebanese Aid Worker Killed in Yemen
Hariri Tours Akkar: We Will Pursue Together the Path of Development
Franjieh to Lebanese Expatriates: With you, we raise our heads high
Hariri from Akkar: We will pursue the path of development together
Israel Frees Lebanese Woman Nabbed near Shebaa

Lebanese Shiites, too prominent to be monopolized by anyone
 
Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/18
Missiles’ fired at Syrian regime military positions: state media
N. Korea Offers to Shut Nuclear Test Site in May, Invite U.S. Experts
Pompeo Meets Saudi King, FM: Current Nuclear Deal Not Enough to Rein in Iran
Pompeo Briefs Saudi, Israel on Trump Plans for Iran Deal
ISIS Retreats against Advancing Regime, Confronts Opposition South of Damascus
Palestinians Attack Nikki Haley, Accuse her of Falsifying Facts
Palestinian Congress to Convene as Abbas Seeks to Strengthen Hand
Hamas Accuses Ramallah Intelligence of PM Hamdallah Assassination Attempt
Second Phase of Lebanon’s Expatriate Polls to Resume Sunday
Iran Begins Trial for Suspects in Parliament Attack
Syria Regime, Rebels Reach Evacuation Deal in Southern Damascus
Iraqi PM Mobilizes Supporters in Kirkuk ahead of May Vote
Japanese PM to Asharq Al-Awsat ahead of Mideast Tour: We are Committed to Peace
North Korea Vows to Shut Atomic Site in May
Washington Post: Leaked Messages Confirm Qatar Paid Billions for Extremist Shi’ite Militias
Pompeo’s thumbs up for Israel to counter Russian-backed Iranian drive in Syria
Brexit Failure Looks More Likely Every Day
Tunisian Islamist Party Endorses Jewish Candidate

 
Latest Lebanese Related News published on April 29-30/18
Lebanese Military, Security Forces Finalize Preparations ahead of Parliamentary Polls
Beirut - Paula Astih/Asharq Al-Awsat/April29/18/Days before next week’s parliamentary elections, all Lebanese security agencies are close to announcing their mobilization to prepare for the May 6 event, the build-up of which was marred by frequent security incidents. The army and security forces will finalize preparing the various operation centers that will be distributed throughout the country to monitor the voting process. Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that five centers, comprised of military and security forces, will be connected to each other and the main command center at the Defense Ministry, which will be chiefly responsible for the safety of the elections. The military usually assumes the responsibility of protecting the vicinity of a polling station point, while the Internal Security Forces oversee the voting process at the actual station. No military personnel will be present inside the station, said retired General Dr. Mohammed Rammal. The military only enters a center in case of a major security development. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that all security agencies, starting with the Army Command, will face a “major challenge on May 6, because elections in Lebanon are usually held in stages, not in one day.”
Previous elections used to see the vote take place over a series of weeks during a month-long period. “This is the first time that the parliamentary elections will be held over a single day, which demands the adoption of a tight plan and for the complete mobilization of all agencies,” Rammmal added. Security incidents have been recorded in the build-up to next week’s vote. In the Tripoli-Minieh-Dinnieh district in the North, supporters of retired Major General Ashraf Rifi clashed with supporters from rival lists. In the capital, Beirut, supporters of the Mustaqbal Movement clashed with backers of other candidates.In one incident, supporters of Yehya Shamas, who is backed by the Shi’ite duo of the “Hezbollah” and Amal groups, did not hesitate in resorting to automatic weapons and mortar shells during a clash with rivals that erupted on April 5.On the Druze front, several security incidents erupted over the hanging of electoral posters, reflecting the tensions among the rival factions representing the sect. Supporters of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat clashed with others backing Lebanese Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan. Supporters of the latter also fought with supporters of former minister Wiam Wahhab.
The most dangerous security incident, however, was the attack by “Hezbollah” supporters against journalist and candidate Ali al-Amin over the hanging of a poster. Partisan sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that security agencies urged all parties, without exception, to rein in their supporters in an effort to avoid security unrest.


2nd Round of Lebanese Expat Voting Kicks Off in 33 Nations
Naharnet/April 29/18/ Lebanese expats were on Sunday casting their ballots in 33 countries across the world, three days after a similar vote in six Arab countries. Voting on Australia's eastern coast had kicked off at midnight whereas voting in other countries began at 6:00 am Beirut time. In Canada, 11,438 expats have registered to take part in the electoral process while 10,000 others are listed in the United States. Elsewhere in the Americas, 2,016 are registered in Brazil, 1,496 in Venezuela, 923 in Paraguay, 392 in Argentina, 347 in Mexico and 325 in Colombia, according to LBCI television. In Africa, 2,344 voters are registered in Ivory Coast, 1,263 in Nigeria, 400 in Senegal, 439 in Guinea, 375 in Ghana, 341 in Congo, 312 in South Africa, 259 in Sierra Leone, 251 in Gabon, 217 in Benin and 211 in Liberia. Also according to LBCI, 8,362 expats have registered in France, 8,351 in Germany, 1,910 in Sweden, 1,805 in the UK, 1,052 in Belgium, 889 in Switzerland, 728 in Italy, 376 in Spain, 311 in Armenia, 270 in Romania, 256 in Greece, 250 in Denmark, 228 in the Netherland and 242 in the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. Polling stations in Los Angeles will be the last to close, on Monday. At 12:00 pm Beirut time, the voter turnout was at 45.7% in Australia and five percent in Europe. A “heavy turnout” was meanwhile reported in Africa.

Aoun Expresses Satisfaction over 2nd Round of Expat Voting
Naharnet/April 29/18/President Michel Aoun was on Sunday following up, starting from dawn, on the course of the second round of Lebanese expat voting, which spanned countries in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australia, the Presidency said. “He received reports from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants and the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities over the voting of Lebanese expats residing in these countries,” the Presidency added. Aoun “expressed relief over the course of the second round of elections and the measures that accompanied it, especially in terms of addressing some difficulties that surfaced during the electoral process,” the Presidency said. Lebanon has not held a parliamentary poll since 2009 and a new law now allows Lebanese living abroad to vote for the first time since independence in 1943. After successive waves of emigration from the 19th century to the 1975-1990 civil war, some estimates say Lebanon's extended diaspora has bloated to a whopping 12 million, but most no longer have citizenship.Some 116 polling stations in Lebanese embassies and consulates in 39 countries were set up to vote, but only an estimated 82,900 people have registered to take part. The voting inside Lebanon will be held next Sunday.

Mashnouq 'Proud' of Expat Vote despite 'Minor Mistakes'
Naharnet/April 29/18/Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Sunday described the expat voting process as a “success,” as the second round of voting was underway in 33 countries across the world. “This process is a success for entire Lebanon and we should be proud of it,” Mashnouq said, as he admitted that “it was marred by some minor mistakes that were addressed immediately.”“There were mishaps regarding passports for voters wishing to vote with passports, seeing as 400 voters did not receive their passports via mail. We will inquire if they will be able to vote in Beirut should their names be added to the electoral rolls there,” the minister added. He said a second mistake was in Germany, where two ballot boxes were sent to the wrong address and where some voters did not find their names on the electoral rolls. “In Latin America, ballot boxes were supposed to be sent (to Lebanon) within four to five days due to the May Day holiday, but we have found a solution to this issue and informed the relevant ambassadors that they are obliged to travel to Lebanon along with the ballot boxes,” Mashnouq added. Sunday's vote in 33 countries comes two days after thousands of Lebanese voted in six Arab countries. The vote marks the first time that Lebanese are allowed to vote abroad. Millions of Lebanese live abroad, but Lebanon's state-run news agency says the number of registered voters is 82,970. The voting inside Lebanon will be held next Sunday

Lebanese Vote in Ivory Coast after Only 2.3% Register

Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/Hundreds of Lebanese expats in Ivory Coast voted Sunday in Lebanon's first parliamentary election in almost a decade, though turnout was low in the home of Africa's largest Lebanese diaspora. Lebanon has not held a parliamentary poll since 2009 and a new law now allows Lebanese living abroad to vote for the first time since independence in 1943. "We're hoping for change in Lebanon, we want more jobs and freedom," Ghassan Ghossein, a Lebanese who arrived in Ivory Coast seven years ago, told AFP as he voted in the capital Abidjan. Voters queued outside the school hall polling station, sheltering from the sun under orange and white beach umbrellas. Inside, a camera filmed ballot boxes, providing a live video feed to election monitors back in Beirut. One woman voter, who didn't want to give her name, said it was important for Lebanese expats to still have a say in the governing of their homeland. "They've given us this chance, so of course we're going to vote," said the woman, who emigrated to West Africa 24 years ago and whose daughter was born in Ivory Coast. But although around 100,000 people of Lebanese descent live there today, only 2,300 people registered to vote Sunday. "It's the first time, so many people didn't know how to do it," Lebanon's ambassador to Abidjan Mohammed Khalil explained. "But next time the number will increase." Half of the seats in Lebanon's parliament are reserved for Christians and the other half for Muslims.
After successive waves of emigration from the 19th century to the 1975-1990 civil war, some estimates say Lebanon's extended diaspora has bloated to a whopping 12 million, but most no longer have citizenship. Some 116 polling stations in Lebanese embassies and consulates in 39 countries are set up to vote, but only an estimated 82,900 people have registered to take part. "I'm from Saida," said Mirvat Kadoura al-Mallah, an Abidjan-based voter who hails from the Lebanese port city. "It's so important that our voice is heard (back home)."

U.S. Says Won’t Interfere in Lebanese Expats Right to Vote

Naharnet/April 29/18/As Lebanon gears for its second day of Lebanese expats voting on Sunday, the United States’ foreign ministry said the US “will not interfere in the right of Lebanese to vote,” MTV reported Saturday. “The US administration will not interfere in the Lebanese right to vote,” a US source from the US foreign ministry told the television station on condition of anonymity. MTV added that around 10,000 Lebanese expats are set to cast their votes on Sunday. On the other hand, Lebanon's Ambassador to Brazil told MTV that “preparations for the electoral process are complete. No logistic problems have been encountered, except that some passports did not arrive on time.”Expatriates will kick off the second day of Lebanon's parliamentary polls by voting abroad on Sunday, a first for the small country's huge diaspora. Expats voting took place Friday in six Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt. The overall voter turnout was at 48.11% at 5:25 pm Beirut time according to the National News Agency. Voters elsewhere in the world will vote on Sunday, a week before the May 6 polling in Lebanon, which has not renewed its parliament since 2009.

Australia's Lebanese Enthusiastic as Expat Voting Begins
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/Voting in Lebanon's first parliamentary polls in almost a decade kicked off in Australia Sunday with thousands of people casting their ballots in the historic election. Some 12,000 members of Australia's Lebanese community are registered to vote, Lebanon's embassy in Canberra said, a week before the May 6 election that will carve out the country's political and economic trajectory. "It's a special day today, it's democracy day. As you can see everyone is happy here," Nazih Keir, a 44-year-old member of the Lebanese Muslim community in Sydney, told AFP at a polling station next to the huge Lakemba Mosque. "We've been now from 2009 with no election -- nine years and a bit more -- and it is the first time in Australia, that is why we are so happy to get involved in the election in Lebanon and we hope that everyone gets what he wants."Lebanon has not held a parliamentary poll since 2009 and a new law now allows Lebanese living abroad to vote for the first time since independence in 1943. With an estimated community of 230,000 -- which includes Lebanon-born migrants and their families -- Australia is among the largest diaspora groups outside of the Americas. "It is a good feeling for us to feel like we are involved in making a decision in Lebanon and we feel that we can make changes," said Danny Geagea, 48, a Christian member of the Lebanese community. But he also complained about the voting process.
"Lots of people coming here, they can't find their name (on the register) and they are upset and angry," he said. People were casting their vote for one list of candidates running in their Lebanese district of origin, under a proportional list-based system. They were also choosing one candidate on a list of parliamentary hopefuls representing each religious community in that district under a strict quota system. Half of the seats in Lebanon's parliament are reserved for Christians and the other half for Muslims. After successive waves of emigration from the 19th century to the 1975-1990 civil war, some estimates say Lebanon's extended diaspora has bloated to a whopping 12 million, but most no longer have citizenship. Some 116 polling stations in Lebanese embassies and consulates in 39 countries are set up to vote, but only an estimated 82,900 people have registered to take part.
 
Maronite Patriarch: Real Estate Acquisition Must Not Be Linked to Residency, Citizenship or Naturalization
Kataeb.org/Sunday 29th April 2018/Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi on Sunday called for not selling Lebanon to foreigners in a clear criticism of the Article 49 of the budget law which was suspended by the Constitutional Council earlier this week, stressing the need to set out a plan to return the Syrian refugees back to their country. "The acquisition of real estate by foreigners should be linked neither to granting Lebanon's residency and citizenship, nor to naturalization," he said during the inauguration of the Saint George church in the Aley town of Salfaya.
The Patriarch had previously called for the abrogation of the Article 49 of the 2018 budget law, warning that it paves the way for the naturalization of Syrian refugees.

Sami Gemayel: Voters to Choose Between Debilitating Authority and Devoted Opposition
Kataeb.org/Sunday 29th April 2018/Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Sunday said that the party has managed to abort the ruling authority's shady deals with just five lawmakers, stressing the need to seize the elections as an opportunity to maximize the opposition's size in the Parliament. "The corrupted authority has taken the Metn residents as hostages so as to pass its waste landfill deal and dump garbage into the sea," Gemayel said in a meeting with the Kataeb partisans in Jdeideh. "On May 6, the Lebanese will have to choose between the ruling authority which has debilitated the country, and the opposition which has stood by the people's side in all issues, be it social, national and economic," he stated. "The Burj Hammoud landfill and the Article 49 which enclosed a naturalization scheme are the clearest examples that can be used to compare the two options. In addition, there were also the deal sealed with terrorist militants to get them out of Lebanon in air-conditioned buses, and the cancellation of the rally that was supposed to take place in Downtown Beirut to celebrate the Lebanese Army's victory in the border battle. It was Hezbollah that did all of this in coordination with the state which has relinquished its decision-making power and handed over the country's sovereignty to said party.""All political forces have joined forces against us just because we dared to dream of a corruption-free country where there is no place for shady deals and settlements," Gemayel said. "We will keep on speaking the truth. The most dignified type of isolation is the one in which we are isolated alongside the people."Gemayel cautioned against rumors targeting the 'Pulse of Metn' list, saying that the masterminds behind it are seeking debased tactics to weaken the Kataeb party because they have no project or vision to confront it with.
"Each vote that will go to the 'Pulse of Metn' list will lay the cornerstone of a bigger opposition force in Lebanon.""The land where Pierre Gemayel shed his blood doesn't fear anything; it is a land that does not yield to threats, and would never be sold or bought by anyone," Gemayel affirmed.

Kataeb candidate for the Maronite seat in Batroun, Samer Saade: I Don't Seal Under-the-Table Deals
Kataeb.org/Sunday 29th April 2018/Kataeb candidate for the Maronite seat in Batroun, Samer Saade, on Sunday called on the voters to hold those who have mismanaged the country to account in the upcoming general elections, urging them to be the pulse of change that Lebanon needs. "Put them to account on May 6. Remember that they represent pollution and shady deals while we represent the clean environment and the anti-corruption spirit They are the past and we are the future," he said in a rally held in Chekka in support of the Kataeb's candidates in the North III district which includes Batroun, Becharri, Zgharta and Koura.Saade lashed out at rumors claiming that he will transfer his preferential votes to another candidate, affirming that he never makes under-the-table seats. "I will fight this electoral battle until the end," he stressed. Saade said that the Batroun martyrs had drawn a line separating freedom from submissiveness, vowing the pursue their dream of a country where honesty, planning, commitment and ethics would prevail. "We won't allow corruption to be imposed as a de facto reality," he stated. "They handed the country over to non-state factions, but we won't yield to their dominion." "The Kataeb's platform meets your aspirations," Saade said in an address to the voters. "Vote for this project so that we would work hand in hand to demolish their jungle and build our country.""We are not fervid seekers of power and posts. Instead, we are passionate about Lebanon's freedom, sovereignty and independence."

Jumblat to Supporters: Our Existence Hinges on High Voter Turnout
Naharnet/April 29/18/ Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday urged the supporters of the Progressive Socialist Party to achieve “the highest possible voter turnout” in the upcoming parliamentary elections. “Let the torches of party members, supporters, friends and allies remain high in the sky so that their fire and smoke can cover and conceal their hateful and odious slogans against the (2001 Druze-Christian) reconciliation and their lies about reform,” Jumblat tweeted, in a scathing attack against rival electoral lists in the Chouf-Aley district. “The fate of the battle and the fate our existence are hinging on achieving the highest possible voter turnout,” the PSP leader warned. The parliamentary elections, the first in nine years, will be held next Sunday in 15 districts according to a new and complex proportional representation electoral law. Jumblat's son and apparent political heir Taimur is leading the Reconciliation List – an electoral alliance with the Lebanese Forces – in the Chouf-Aley district, Lebanon's Druze heartland. Rival lists are led by the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Talal Arslan and ex-minister Wiam Wahhab. There are also two lists formed by civil society activists in the district.

Funeral Held for Lebanese Aid Worker Killed in Yemen

Associated Press/Naharnet/April 29/18/A Lebanese humanitarian worker from the International Committee of the Red Cross has been laid to rest in his hometown, Breeh, a week after being shot dead in Yemen. Hanna Lahoud, 38, was in charge of the ICRC's detainees program in Yemen. He was shot on his way to visit a prison in the southwestern province of Taiz. An investigation is underway to determine who killed him. ICRC official Dominik Stillhart called Lahoud "a beacon of humanity" during the funeral Saturday. Stillart said Lahoud gave his life helping the people of Yemen. Prayers were held in the St. Charbel Church north of Beirut. Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since March 2015, a conflict that has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Hariri Tours Akkar: We Will Pursue Together the Path of Development

Naharnet/April 29/18/Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday started his electoral visit to the northern Akkar district by visiting Jabal Akroum, where a popular rally was held in the presence of a number of al-Mustaqbal Movement candidates in Akkar including Hadi Hobeish, Mohammed Suleiman, Tarek al-Merehbi and Jean Moussa. “I hope that we will always meet under the blue sky in Jabal Akroum, the mountain of pride, dignity and honor. This area put the best of its young people at the service of the Lebanese Army and the security forces. We are proud of its officers, clerics, dignitaries, and clans,” Hariri said at the rally. He added: “You know very well that these elections are fateful for us and for Lebanon. You see the lists facing us that want to kidnap the voice of Akkar. Will you allow this? I came to tell you that we will remain together on the path of Martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the path of development and reconstruction for all of Lebanon and especially Akroum.”Hariri noted that “there was a very big share for Akkar and Akroum” at the CEDRE economic conference in Paris. “In the past it was all talk but today the money is available and so are the projects, and all we have to do is execute them. If you want the projects to be executed, we have the program. So everyone should cast their vote on May 6,” the premier added. Speaking in another Akkar area, the border region of Wadi Khaled, Hariri warned that “some want to bring the Syrian tutelage back to Akkar.” “I have no problem with competition when it is for Akkar’s interest, but we will not accept the return of the Syrian tutelage over Akkar,” he said. Along the road from Wadi Khaled to Mashta Hassan and Mashta Hammoud, Hariri made stops to salute citizens who stood along the road to greet him. Addressing a Mashta Hassan rally, Hariri said: “It is useful to visit these areas to see the deprivation, but what I will see during my next visit will be different because there are many regions that need the implementation of projects.”Hariri then stopped in the town of Shadra where he was received by a large number of citizens, including allied Lebanese Forces candidate Wehbe Qatisha. Hariri then visited Mustaqbal MP Hadi Hobeish in Qoubaiyat. Hobeish said that the people of Akkar will continue to support Hariri and his political line and announced that April 7 will be a “day of victory.”Hariri said: “I am honored to be with you today. You preserved coexistence in this area.”Hariri also visited Sindyana and Beereh.
 
Franjieh to Lebanese Expatriates: With you, we raise our heads high
Sun 29 Apr 2018/NNA - Al-Mardah Chief, MP Sleiman Franjieh, commented Sunday on the voting process of the Lebanese expatriates via his Twitter account by saying, "Peace be to all our people in the countries of the Diaspora, including those who have concluded their electoral day and those who are yet beginning...A thousand thanks to you and we shall remain together forever...Your votes are an added value and with you, we raise our heads high."

Hariri from Akkar: We will pursue the path of development together
Sun 29 Apr 2018/NNA - Prime Minister Saad Hariri began Sunday his electoral visit to the area of Akkar by visiting Jabal Akroum, where a popular rally was held in the presence of a number of Future candidates in Akkar, including Hadi Hobeish, Mohammed Sleiman, Tarek Merehbi and Jean Moussa. On this occasion, Hariri said: "I hope that we will always meet under the blue sky in Jabal Akroum, the mountain of pride, dignity and honor. This area put the best of its young people at the service of the Lebanese army and the security forces. We are proud of its officers, sheikhs, dignitaries, and clans." He added: "You shouldn't listen to those who tell you that Akroum isn't represented in the Future list. Saad Hariri represents Akroum. Do you accept that I represent you in Parliament? You know very well that these elections are fateful for us and for Lebanon. You see the lists facing us that want to kidnap the voice of Akkar. Will you allow this? I came to tell you that we will remain together along the path of Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, the path of development and reconstruction for all of Lebanon and especially Akroum." "When I was in Paris, and we discussed the projects in CEDRE conference, there was a very big share for Akkar and Akroum. In the past, it was all talk but today the money is available and so are the projects, and all we have to do is execute them. If you want the projects to be executed, we have the program. So everyone should cast their vote on May 6," the Prime Minister went on. "During the last elections, we got 97% of the votes in this area. This time it will be 100%. We will be with you in the elections, and I decided to visit you once or twice a year," stressed Hariri.
Wadi Khaled
PM Hariri then visited Wadi Khaled where a popular rally was held in the presence of dignitaries, a large number of citizens and a number of Future Movement candidates. Addressing the welcoming crowd, Hariri said: "The people of Arab clans are the people of honor, dignity and loyalty to Martyr Rafic Hariri who prepared the nationality decree. I know that some of you are still suffering from this issue, but I will solve it. I also thank you for hosting the Syrian displaced despite the suffering, and I know that the area needs a lot of projects." He added: "Next time I will be with you for a longer time. On May 6 there is a great challenge, especially that some want to bring the Syrian tutelage back to Akkar. I have no problem with competition when it is for Akkar's interest, but we will not accept the return of the Syrian tutelage over Akkar. We, as a Future Movement, did things right and other things wrong, but now we have to put the disputes aside to preserve Akkar's decision, especially that there is a candidate from here. On May 6, all Lebanon should know the true identity of Wadi Khaled. This town will continue the path of Rafic and Saad Hariri, and this is what we should do on May 6." A mass rally was also held in front of the house of candidate Mohammed Suleiman. Along the road from Wadi Khaled to Mashta Hassan, passing by Mashta Hammoud, Hariri had stops to salute the citizens who stood along the road to greet him. In Mashta Hassan a rally was held in front of the Municipality where Mayor Ahmad Abdul Hamid welcomed Premier Hariri and talked about the demands of the town. Hariri responded by saying, "It is useful to visit these areas to see the deprivation, but what I will see during my next visit will be different because there are many regions that need the implementation of projects. We have elections on May 6 and I will not accept the return of any tutelage. Martyr Prime Minister Rafic Hariri dreamed of visiting this area but could not, and I came here to realize his dream". Hariri then stopped in the town of Shadra, where he was received by a large number of citizens, including candidate Wehbe Qatisha.
Kobayet
Hariri then visited MP Hadi Hobeish in Kobayet. Hobeish said that the people of Akkar will continue to support Premier Hariri and his political line, announcing that April 7 will be a day of victory. In turn, Hariri said: "I am honored to be with you today. You preserved coexistence in this area and Martyr Rafic Hariri sacrificed his life for it. We will continue the process of development and reconstruction, especially that Akkar suffers deprivation."PM Hariri's Akkar tour also included the areas of Sindyana and Beereh.


Israel Frees Lebanese Woman Nabbed near Shebaa

Naharnet/April 29/18/The Israeli army on Sunday released a Lebanese woman its troops had abducted on Saturday. “The Israeli occupation army this morning freed Lebanese citizen Nouhad Dilli and she was handed over to Lebanese Army intelligence agents via UNIFIL, in the Burkat al-Naqqar area west of the town of Shebaa,” the National News Agency reported. The woman had been kidnapped Saturday from the al-Shahel area east of the border town of Shebaa. “After coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the citizen Nouhad Dilli was at 10:10 am handed over to the Intelligence Directorate in the outskirts of the town of Shebaa through U.N. forces,” a Lebanese Army statement said.

Lebanese Shiites, too prominent to be monopolized by anyone

حسن المصطفى/الرياض/27 نيسان/18
Hassan Al Mustafa//Al Arabiya/April 29/18/
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64249
Despite the violent civil war and armed sectarian conflict, Lebanon’s society has remained open to plurality, diversity, tolerance and individual freedom.
You won’t find a religious sect that has isolated itself in this small Mediterranean country. Everyone, without exception, exudes political, social and intellectual vitality that makes plurality a major feature of the country.
Shiite diversity of political views
It’s true that leaders of sects are still present and continue to use rhetoric to mobilize people against each other; however this exhortation is only used to serve certain vested interests, usually during elections or in times of disputes over economic matters. The aim is to achieve goals within the framework of “political quotas” which is actually the “golden” rule for administrative and financial corruption.
Shiites in Lebanon are part of this diversity and they cannot be dealt with as one deaf bloc that follows just one leader without questioning where he is taking the community and what kind of future plan he has for it.
Historically speaking, many Shiites have been active in leftist and nationalist struggle movements in the mid-20th century. The most prominent ideologues of leftist thought were Shiites like the late Hussein Mroueh and Mahdi Amal. Shiites are now also at the forefront of secular intellectuals and writers who believe in the importance of deconstructing extremist speeches – fields which intellectuals like Ali Harb have written about. Thanks to his views, Ali Harb — who is influenced by French philosophy — is considered as one of the most prominent Arab intellectuals with a deconstructionist approach.
The religious movement itself also included references and intellectuals who created cultural diversity that developed an atmosphere of discussion and debate, which was not common in traditional Shiite circles.
Sayyed Hani Fahs and Sayyed Mohammed Hassan al-Amin were two examples of the politically open religious figures who believed in the civil state and reconciled with “secularism” and who were not afraid of the “other” but believed in its significance for self-fulfillment.
There are many other Shiite models as well. Some are characterized by their deep intellect and political maturity and some are not as mature - however, all of them definitely contribute to diversity that enriches Lebanon and the society.
Today, Shiites in Lebanon are part of this entity. They present themselves as citizens and not as followers of a certain sect. They believe in the state as the reference and in the importance of working to remove sectarianism from political life and reduce the extent of sectarian tensions which are caused by conflicts among political parties.
An intolerable invective
This awareness that has been building must not be suppressed or pictured as a reflection of familial or personal interests or as if this elite is a bunch of mercenaries and egoists who sold themselves at the embassies’ auctions!
The term “the Shiite of the embassy” is nothing more than an invective that is so vile that it ill behooves those who use it against those who disagree with them. It’s a phrase that’s used as a weapon to execute rivals and distort their political history.
Opportunists are present in every movement, sect and group but projecting anyone who disagrees with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement as traitors and agents of Washington and people who receive bribes and stab their people in the back is an obvious lie.
This civil vitality in Lebanese Shiite circles must be strengthened and dealt with in a mature way to establish a public opinion that does not have sectarian biases and so individuals can present themselves as Lebanese citizens while overcoming the narrow identities of any religion or sect.

 
Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 29-30/18
Missiles’ fired at Syrian regime military positions: state media
AFP/April 30, 2018/DAMASCUS: Some “enemy missiles” targeted the Syrian regime’s military positions in the provinces of Hama and Aleppo late Sunday, the official SANA news agency reported, without identifying the attackers.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights monitor confirmed the firing of missiles, adding that “Iranian elements” were stationed at two of the targeted bases. The Observatory could not immediately say whether there were any casualties, nor who was responsible for the missile strikes. The report came amid heightened tensions in Syria after Damascus and its ally Iran accused Israel on April 9 of conducting deadly strikes against a military base in the center of the country. Several days later, on April 14, the US, France and Britain carried out strikes against several of the Syrian regime’s military positions, in response to a suspected chemical attack on the rebel stronghold of Douma, which caused dozens of deaths, according to rescue services. “A new attack with missiles targeted military positions in the provinces of Hama and Aleppo,” respectively in the center and north of the country, SANA reported, citing a military source. In the April 9 attack, at least 14 soldiers, including seven Iranians, were killed in the strike on a military base in central Homs province.
 
N. Korea Offers to Shut Nuclear Test Site in May, Invite U.S. Experts
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/North Korea promised to close its atomic test site next month and invite U.S. weapons experts to the country, Seoul said Sunday, as Donald Trump expressed optimism about securing a nuclear deal in his summit with the secretive regime. The reported pledge from the North's leader Kim Jong Un follows weeks of whirlwind diplomacy that saw Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agree to pursue the complete denuclearization of the peninsula during a historic summit on Friday. "Kim said, during the summit with President Moon, that he would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May," Seoul's presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said. Kim said he "would soon invite experts of South Korea and the U.S. as well as journalists to disclose the process to the international community with transparency," Yoon added. Tension has been high on the flashpoint peninsula since last year when the North carried its sixth -- and most powerful -- atomic test and test-fired missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. "Kim said 'the U.S. feels repelled by us, but once we talk, they will realize that I am not a person who will fire a nuclear weapon to the South or the U.S. or target the U.S.," according to Yoon. "If we meet often (with the U.S.), build trust, end the war and eventually are promised no invasion, why would we live with the nuclear weapons?'" Kim also slammed speculation during his meeting with Moon that the Punggye-ri test site was already unusable after an underground tunnel there reportedly collapsed. "As they will see once they visit, there are two more tunnels (in the test site) that are even bigger... and they are in good condition," he was quoted as saying. The remarks are likely to be seen as a sweetener ahead of Trump's own planned summit with Kim, which the U.S. president said would take place "in the next three or four weeks". Trump touted his ability to achieve a nuclear deal with the regime at a campaign-style rally in Michigan to cheers and chants of "Nobel! Nobel!". The U.S. leader has been eager to play up his role in achieving a breakthrough with Pyongyang through his "maximum pressure" campaign involving tough rhetoric, strengthened global sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate the regime. "Months ago, do you remember what they were saying? 'He's going to get us into nuclear war, they said,'" Trump told supporters in Washington Township, north of Detroit. "No, strength is going to keep us out of nuclear war, not going to get us in!" he added. But Trump also sounded a note of caution, saying he was prepared to walk away if U.S. demands for North Korea to relinquish its atomic arsenal in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way were not met. His remarks came as his new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC News he had a "good conversation" with Kim during his secret visit to Pyongyang over Easter weekend, adding that Kim was "prepared to... lay out a map that would help us achieve" denuclearization.
'Things are going well'
Trump held phone calls earlier Saturday with both Moon and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, declaring "things are going very well", as CBS News reported that Mongolia and Singapore are the final two locations under consideration for his meeting with Kim. The North once invited foreign observers and journalists to its main Yongbyon atomic complex in 2008 when it destroyed an aged cooling tower -- with the dramatic explosion televised globally within hours. That event did not slow the North's nuclear drive, but the situation looks more upbeat this time, Hong Min, analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP. "There's a vast difference between blowing up a cooling tower and dismantling your only and, if what Kim said was right, functioning nuclear test site," he said, adding Kim was "giving away in advance one of the major chips he could have saved for the actual meeting with Trump."
"Given this is only a conciliatory move in the build-up to the summit, I think the meeting is likely to produce something more concrete," he said. Pyongyang has demanded as-yet-unspecified security guarantees to discuss its arsenal, but Kim could use the meeting to agree on "the range of nuclear weapons and facilities to be dismantled and specific time frame to do so," said Hong.
New era?
On Saturday the North's state media hailed the inter-Korea summit as a "historic meeting", adding that Kim and Moon "confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula."But the phrase is a diplomatic euphemism open to interpretation on both sides. Pyongyang has long wanted to see an end to the U.S. military presence and nuclear umbrella over the South, but it invaded its neighbor in 1950 and is the only one of the two Koreas to possess nuclear weapons. When Kim stepped over the military demarcation line that divides the peninsula he became the first North Korean leader to set foot in the South since the Korean War hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. In a joint statement, the two Korean leaders also pledged to seek a peace treaty this year to formally declare the Korean War over.
 
Pompeo Meets Saudi King, FM: Current Nuclear Deal Not Enough to Rein in Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks in Riyadh on Sunday with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz, reported the Saudi Press Agency. Talks focused on bilateral ties and the latest regional developments. Earlier, the US official had held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.During a joint press conference with the minister, Pompeo accused Iran of destabilizing the region through the arming of the Houthi militias in Yemen, noting that its behavior has gotten “worse” since the signing of the nuclear deal in 2015. He said: “The current deal is not enough to rein in Iran.” “Saudi Arabia’s security is a priority for the US,” continued Pompeo. “We should stand together against terrorism and Vision 2030 is an inspiration for us,” he added. For his part, Jubeir stressed that more sanctions must be imposed on Iran over its funding of terrorism. “Riyadh supports US President Donald Trump’s policy on Tehran,” he added. The newly appointed US secretary of state arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, the first leg in a tour of the region and the first stop in his first foreign trip since his swearing-in on Thursday.

Pompeo Briefs Saudi, Israel on Trump Plans for Iran Deal
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/Washington's new chief diplomat was to meet Saudi and Israeli leaders on Sunday to rally coordinated opposition to Tehran and brief them on President Donald Trump's threat to end the Iran nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo touched down in Riyadh on Saturday shortly after Tehran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles across the kingdom's border. U.S. officials traveling with Pompeo told reporters the Huthi missiles had been supplied by Iran, and cited the attacks as evidence that regional powers should work together. Pompeo had dinner with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and on Sunday he was due to meet his father King Salman. Then he was due to fly on to Jerusalem to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then on to Amman in Jordan, wrapping up a weekend of talks with some of Iran's most fervent foes in the region. Trump is due to decide on May 12 whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Tehran, putting in peril the landmark 2015 nuclear accord, which most world powers see as key to preventing Tehran from getting the bomb. But Trump and America's Middle East allies argue the deal, approved by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, was too weak and needs to be replaced with a more permanent arrangement and supplemented by controls on Iran's missile program. Pompeo set off on his first diplomatic trip within two hours of being sworn in on Thursday and on Friday -- after talks with the NATO allies in Brussels -- he appeared to suggest that Trump plans to nix the deal. "Absent a substantial fix, absent overcoming the shortcomings, the flaws of the deal, he is unlikely to stay in that deal past this May," Pompeo told reporters in at NATO headquarters. Perhaps the last chance to fix these supposed shortcomings came from talks between Washington and its European allies Britain, France and Germany on a supplemental agreement to sanction Iran's missile program. But both President Emmanuel Macron of France and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel left Washington this week after talks with Trump having failed to secure any promise that he might keep the core deal alive.
Air strikes
That may be music to the ears of the Saudi and Israeli leaders, who both support a tougher line on Iran. "This administration has made it a priority to address Iran's missile programs," a senior U.S. official told reporters in Riyadh, condemning the latest Huthi volley of missiles, themselves in part a response to Saudi air strikes. "Iran supplies the missiles that the Huthis fire into Saudi Arabia, threatening civilians," he said. "Today alone the Saudis shot down four Huthi missiles, the latest in a string of such attacks."Earlier, a civil defense official had said that at least one Saudi had been killed by falling shrapnel as his government's air defense batteries attempted to intercept the missiles near the Yemen border. A Saudi-led coalition air strike overnight Friday to Saturday killed dozens of Yemeni rebels including two commanders, state media said. Prince Salman and his father will welcome U.S. solidarity against Iran -- just as Israel will want to see greater U.S. support for its efforts against Iranian influence in Syria and Lebanon -- but Pompeo has come with requests too. According to U.S. officials, while Riyadh has a right to self-defense, it must come to see that the solution to Yemen's civil war will be a political one and its forces must not exacerbate the massive humanitarian crisis there. Washington also wants to see an end to the Gulf crisis that has seen Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates impose a diplomatic and trade embargo on fellow U.S. regional ally Qatar. And, perhaps most importantly for Trump, Pompeo will urge Saudi Arabia to provide personnel and funding to help U.S. efforts to stabilize northeastern Syria in the wake of the expected defeat of the Islamic State group.  "The president has made clear that he wants to see meaningful participation from states in the region," another senior U.S. official traveling with Pompeo's party said. "We want to see the kind of participation, for financial efforts, not just kinetic efforts that would match, parallel, would assist, the U.S. role," he said. The United States has more than 2,000 troops in Syria. On Qatar, the U.S. officials said they do not blame one side or the other, but want Riyadh and Doha to sort out the stand-off themselves.
Humanitarian tragedy
And on Yemen, they warned the Saudi-led coalition not to again block or bomb ports that supply vital civilian aid, warning that there is no military solution to the crisis. "The humanitarian situation in this tragic country cannot be allowed to become worse. It needs to get better. And that means full and free access to humanitarian goods, to commercial goods, to fuel," one said. Pompeo will conclude his first diplomatic trip on Monday after talks with senior Jordanian officials and then fly back to Washington to move in to his office in the State Department.

ISIS Retreats against Advancing Regime, Confronts Opposition South of Damascus
Moscow, Beirut – Raed Jaber and Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/ISIS terrorists, who had retreated against advancing Syrian regime forces in the past few days, shifted on Saturday the battle in southern Damascus against opposition factions, which control three towns surrounding the group’s besieged areas. Sources in southern Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat that pressure exerted by regime troops against some factions to evacuate their positions “forced ISIS to launch strikes against those groups to seize control of their positions and establish a frontline.”
The sources added that such a tactic weakens opposition factions, while it will not contribute to any of ISIS’ ability to launch an attack. “This tactic will allow regime forces to intensify their attacks and to advance from areas under their control,” they explained. Separately, Moscow, Tehran and Ankara stressed Saturday on “a political solution to the Syrian conflict” and on enhancing peace efforts in the framework of the Astana talks. Following a meeting with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts - Mohammad Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu - in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the three sides agreed that attempts to divide Syria on ethnic and religious grounds were totally unacceptable.
He added: “We are determined to continue these efforts. We agreed on specific steps that our three countries will take individually and together in order to get us all back to the path leading to the implementation of the [UN Security Council] Resolution 2254.”The Russian FM reiterated his opposition to the missile strikes launched by the United States and its allies against Syria. “The trilateral attack not only significantly raised tensions on the international stage, but also considerably damaged the prospects for a political settlement,” he said. The April 14 Western strike was made in response to the regime’s chemical weapons attack on the town of Douma a week earlier.

Palestinians Attack Nikki Haley, Accuse her of Falsifying Facts
Ramallah - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/Palestinian officials have launched an unprecedented attack against the US permanent representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, accusing her of “lying and falsifying facts.”The Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, Ambassador Riad Mansour, told the press at the UN headquarters in New York: “The statement that Haley delivered in the UN Security Council room… lacked credibility and created a wave of great discontent among the Palestinians.”He added: “Nikki Haley did not mention a single word regarding the suffering and death inflicted by the children and the Palestinian people at the hands of the occupation forces; if her words are true about Hamas using children as human shields, she must agree to form a fact-finding committee to know who is the offender and who is the victim.”As for his country’s options in the current situation, Mansour pointed out that these would include resorting to the UN General Assembly or the International Criminal Court, without elaborating. On Friday, Mansour revealed that he sent three separate letters to UN Security Council President Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which included data on the number of people killed and the new Palestinian casualties by Israeli fire in Gaza. Israel killed 44 Palestinians up to Friday and wounded some 5,000 during Palestinian demonstrations near the Gaza border. However, Haley accused Hamas of “using children as cannon fodder.”“Anyone who truly cares about children in Gaza should insist that Hamas immediately stop using children as cannon fodder in its conflict with Israel,” she said at the Security Council. Palestinian and Israeli medical and rights reports have shown excessive use of fire by Israeli forces against isolated demonstrators, deliberately killing or damaging their bodies. In specific cases, the Israeli forces opened an investigation.

Palestinian Congress to Convene as Abbas Seeks to Strengthen Hand
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/The parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organization convenes for the first time in decades Monday, as aging President Mahmoud Abbas seeks to strengthen his hand ahead of the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem. Analysts said the three-day meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in the West Bank city of Ramallah is unlikely to produce major policy shifts, but it will elect the 18 members of the PLO's executive committee that effectively forms Abbas's cabinet. More than 100 of the 740-member body will be absent, including dozens allied to Islamists Hamas -- the largest Palestinian party behind Abbas's Fatah -- who have signed a letter opposing the meeting. On Saturday Hamas called on Abbas to postpone the assembly until unity was reached between rival factions. The meeting comes as relations between Abbas and U.S. President Donald Trump's administration have broken down ahead of the controversial relocation of the U.S. embassy, which is set to open in the divided holy city of Jerusalem on May 14. In Hamas-run Gaza, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since March 30. The PNC has not held a regular session since 1996, and last held an special session in 2009.
Consolidation of power
The session is expected to begin Monday night with a lengthy speech from Abbas in which the 82-year-old is likely to address the embassy move, among other topics. His rhetoric has become more agitated as relations with the U.S. have worsened since Trump's December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. That move broke with a decades-old international consensus that the holy city's status should only be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinians see annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. In March, Abbas called U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a Trump appointee and long-time supporter of Israeli settlements, a "son of a dog."His position is weakened by the ongoing split with Hamas, which rules Gaza, after a reconciliation deal collapsed. Analysts say Abbas, elected to a four-year term in 2005, is seeking to further centralize power within the institutions he controls. Hugh Lovatt, a regional expert at the European Council for Foreign Relations, said he expected the meeting to "mark a further milestone in Abbas's consolidation of power and marginalization of political rivals."The names selected for the executive committee will be seen as a key indicator of who is in favor in moderate Palestinian politics, Lovatt added, and even "provide an indicator of frontrunners in the race to succeed Abbas." Abbas will be one of three representatives of Fatah, along with long-time chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Azzam al-Ahmed, negotiator of the failed reconciliation agreement with Hamas. Seven smaller parties, excluding Hamas, will each nominate a candidate, while eight independents will also be selected. At least 10 of the current 18 committee members are expected to be replaced. "The mere fact that he is looking to an institution that has not met for 20 years just shows how illegitimate he is," said Diana Buttu, a former Abbas employee and now fierce critic. The split with Hamas has made elections impossible, so he has remained in power without a mandate. She said she was not expecting any serious challenges to his rule, though candidates are seemingly jostling behind the scenes for the post Abbas era. "They know in this environment not to indicate in any way they want to run against Abbas or seek to position themselves as successor as that is enough to provoke his wrath," she said.

Hamas Accuses Ramallah Intelligence of PM Hamdallah Assassination Attempt
Ramallah - Kifah Zaboun/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/Hamas movement accused the Palestinian intelligence services of being behind the bombing in March which targeted convoy of Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah in Gaza Strip and causing the collapse of Palestinian reconciliation. Spokesman for the Gaza Ministry of Interior and National Security Iyad al-Bazm said the investigations proved that 8 days before Hamadullah's visit to Gaza, IEDs were placed in the area, and three days before the visit, the bombing circuits were placed, whereas Gaza officials were only informed of the visit 48 hours before it happened. Speaking at a press conference, Bazm said that investigations proved the head of the Palestinian intelligence Maj. Gen. Majid Faraj took Hamdallah’s car and not his personal car as usual, and the bomb was detonated after Hamdallah and Faraj’s car. “Investigations led to a person known as Abu Hamza A., founder and director of a jihadist media outlet,” through which cells were managed, directed and exchanged information. “After extensive and complex investigations, Abu Hamza A. was identified as A. S. from the West Bank,” indicated Bazm. Hamas spokesman claimed that Abu Hamza was working for the General Intelligence Service in Ramallah. As of Saturday evening, the Palestinian intelligence has not responded to Hamas' accusations. According to Bazm, those who carried out the attack were responsible for the assassination attempt of security forces commander Tawfiq Abu Naeem in October 2017. “Investigations revealed that the cell planned to target leaders of Hamas, international figures, and the Egyptian delegation,” he added. Bazm accused high-level officials of managing cells that are working to destabilize security in Gaza. During the conference, the Interior ministry showed a video of a number of detainees. The announcement came a month after the main suspect in the assassination attempt, Anas Abu Khoussa, 26, was killed while trying to arrest him.
Back then, the Palestinian government questioned Hamas narrative, saying it fabricated illusory fictional accounts and carried out suspicious scenarios. A few days ago, PM Hamdallah accused Hamas of killing Abu Khoussa from a short distance so that the truth would be lost, and he knew who was behind him, in direct reference to Hamas. The Palestinian Authority blamed Hamas for the assassination attempt and President Mahmoud Abbas threatened the movement that it would bear the consequences if it did not hand over everything in the Gaza Strip to the government. Earlier on March 25, Asharq Al-Awsat published a report in which Hamas was inclined to point fingers towards the PA, focusing on the beneficiaries of the bombing and intellectual delinquency, but Egyptian pressure prevented Hamas from immediately announcing the accusations. Hamas had hoped Abbas would back down on measures taken against Gaza, including salary cuts, and hoped Egypt would succeed in resuming reconciliation efforts and overcoming the crisis. President Abbas, however, insisted on fully taking over Gaza Strip, and said he would continue his actions. He plans to declare Gaza a “rebel territory”. Hamas' accusation of power somehow indicates a breakdown in efforts to restore reconciliation.

Second Phase of Lebanon’s Expatriate Polls to Resume Sunday
Beirut - Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/Some 12,000 Lebanese registered voters begun casting their ballots in Australia on Sunday, in the second phase of expatriate elections, one week before the May 6 polls. About 70,000 Lebanese are registered to vote on Sunday in 33 countries, in addition to the Island of Guadeloupe. The voting already begun at midnight on Saturday-Sunday in Australia and would end at 8:00 am Monday, Lebanon time, after the closing of the ballot boxes at 10:00 pm on the West Coast of the United States. On Friday, thousands of Lebanese expats have cast their votes in 6 Arab states for the first time in the history of parliamentary elections, based on a new proportional representation law, allowing some 82,000 registered Lebanese expatriates to vote in 39 countries. Sources from the Interior Ministry described Friday’s election day as “successful at all levels,” adding that the ministry’s apparatus and administration had attended the operation moment by moment.  However, the positive image of Lebanese expats voting from abroad might be shaken by a legal defect, according to researcher at Information International Mohammed Shamseddine. He warned that the voting of Lebanese expatriates is not based on a legal ground, because the current electoral law stipulates that expats should vote in the 2022 Elections for 6 deputies who will represent them. Shamseddine told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanese expats are voting based on the old electoral law, which is annulled by the new law. “Any candidate who loses with a difference of 500 votes, which his opponent had won from the ballots of Lebanese expatriates, could present an appeal and annul the elections,” he said. The voter turnout of the Lebanese expats in Arab countries has reached a high attendance last Friday, including 62.4 percent in Saudi Arabia, 62.8 percent in the UAE, 74.66 percent in Oman, 76 percent in Qatar, 69 percent in Kuwait and 51 percent in Egypt. March 14 sources told Asharq Al-Awsat they are pleased with the high turnout, which signals the importance of connection between Lebanese living in the country and abroad.

Iran Begins Trial for Suspects in Parliament Attack
London,Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018 /Iranian judiciary announced the beginning of the first court of 26 suspects belonging to ISIS terrorist organization, which targeted the Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of the first Supreme Leader Khomeini in June 2017, injuring and killing more than 50 people. Judiciary news website Mizanonline.com said the case involves 26 defendants and eight attended the first hearing Saturday with their lawyers. Charges include being members of a terrorist organization, weapons possession and unauthorized entry into the country. Following the attacks, Iran announced the death of 5 of the attackers, and 17 Iranians, with dozens wounded in the first attack announced by ISIS on Iranian territory. The five attackers were Iranian members of ISIS, and according to the prosecution, a team of four attackers entered Iran mid-February 2017 arriving from Iraq. According to the official account, the attackers were in the city of Kermanshah, west Iran, up until 24 hours before the attack. Among the five defendants, two joined the organization inside Iranian territory.
Media outlet agencies published photographs of the families of those killed attending the court sessions. The prosecutor called for the execution of those arrested after their charges of purchasing, carrying and keeping light, semi-heavy and heavy arms and conducting terrorist attack. According to the Iranian news agency, all the defendants were arrested 3 weeks after the attacks and they face the death penalty if the charges against them are proven. Court hearings will resume on Sunday, after a suspect identified indicated he left the country in 2015 and joined ISIS. In 2016, he re-entered to the country wearing a suicide belt and carrying weapons. The prosecutor said some of the detainees had no direct role in the attacks, but were preparing for further attacks. Iranian media quoted the prosecution as saying that the defendants had "pledged allegiance to ISIS", adding they "deserve death penalty." However, the defendants were aware of the plan for the attack on Tehran, the prosecutor said, referring to their confessions. The detainees also face charges of aiding and hiding attackers. Following the attack, Iranian security arrested dozens in the provinces of Kurdistan, Balochistan, Hormozgan and Bushehr, suspected of belonging to ISIS. Later, authorities announced thwarting several attacks.

Syria Regime, Rebels Reach Evacuation Deal in Southern Damascus
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/The Syrian government and rebels have reached a deal to evacuate opposition fighters from an area of southern Damascus near the site of a regime offensive against jihadists, state media said Sunday. The announcement comes more than a week into a regime assault to oust Islamic State group fighters from the capital's southern suburbs, including the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk. On Sunday, state news agency SANA said a deal had been reached to evacuate opposition fighters and members of their families from rebel-held areas east of Yarmuk. SANA reported "an agreement reached between the Syrian government and terrorist groups in southern Damascus, in the areas of Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem," using its usual term for all rebels. The deal gives fighters the choice between leaving the area with their families or handing over their weapons and staying, SANA said. The reported deal is the latest in a string of such agreements that have seen the regime retake areas near the capital after rebel withdrawals. Such a deal around Yalda could allow the regime to deploy forces on the eastern edges of Yarmuk after other units advanced towards the camp from the west, a Britain-based war monitor said. Over the past two days, the army has retaken large parts of the district of Qadam on Yarmuk's western flank, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added. On Saturday, IS seized a hospital and surrounding buildings on the eastern edges of Yarmuk as it tried to push towards Yalda, the Observatory said. On Sunday, regime war planes pounded Yarmuk and the neighboring district of Hajar al-Aswad, it said. Yarmuk and its surroundings are now the jihadist group's largest urban redoubt in Syria and neighboring Iraq, after IS lost most of the swathes of territory it once held in both countries. The jihadists have held parts of Yarmuk and Hajar al-Aswad since 2015, and overran Qadam in a surprise assault last month. At least 85 regime fighters and 74 IS jihadists have been killed in ten days of fighting in southern Damascus, the Observatory says. The announcement of an evacuation deal on Yalda and nearby areas comes after the regime reconquered what was once a key rebel bastion east of Damascus earlier this month. Eastern Ghouta fell after a brutal military operation and a series of similar evacuation deals brokered by regime ally Russia that saw tens of thousands of residents bused to northern Syria. More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011 with a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.

Iraqi PM Mobilizes Supporters in Kirkuk ahead of May Vote
Baghdad – Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/For the second time since October, incumbent Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi visited Kirkuk to garner support for the upcoming parliamentary polls, expected in Iraq on May 12. During his first visit, on October 16, the Prime Minister was described as a pioneer after the Kurdistan Region's failed independence referendum. On Saturday, Abadi was hailed as the leader of the Nasr (Victory) Coalition, which is competing with the Fateh (Conquest) coalition for a majority of seats in parliament.
The PM’s visit to Kirkuk sparked concern among his Shi’ite allies more than among his competitors from other lists. Thirteen candidates are running in the election for the Nasr Coalition list in Kirkuk, which includes Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other minorities. “The city of Kirkuk is secured in the presence of Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Muslims, Christians and other minorities,” Abadi said from the oil-rich city. He stressed that the Iraqi state does not differentiate between its people based on their ethnic or religious backgrounds. He praised all Iraqi forces that fought against ISIS, including the army, the police and even the Kurdish Peshmerga, marking a shift from his stance last year. During his October visit to Kirkuk, Abadi angered Kurdish leaderships because he did not hail the Peshmerga in his speeches. Even when the premier visited Sulaimania and Erbil this week, he made sure to acknowledge the role of the Peshmerga in fighting ISIS. Commenting on his visit to Kirkuk, spokesperson of the Nasr Coalition Hussein al-Adily told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abadi “represents a national cause and an Iraqi project because his coalition includes all Iraqi elements.” “His visit to Kirkuk aims to send several messages. He wants to prove that we are the sons of one country, that Iraq is starting to heal and that all disputes and problems should be solved through dialogue,” al-Adily said.

Japanese PM to Asharq Al-Awsat ahead of Mideast Tour: We are Committed to Peace
Riyadh - Fateh al-Rahman Youssef/Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will embark on Sunday on a tour of the Middle East that will take him to each of Jordan, Israel, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates. Ahead of his trip, he stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat the importance Tokyo places on achieving peace and stability in the region, noting that the energy resources it provides are foundations for prosperity in the world. This will mark his third visit in five years to the UAE and second in three to Jordan, Israel and Palestine. The tour will be aimed at bolstering Japan’s role in the area and achieving joint interests and regional stability. Abe said that he looks forward to bolstering strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi when he meets with Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Partnership, said the Japanese PM, will not be limited to the oil field, but renewable energy, defense cooperation, space development and education sectors. On his trip to Amman, he told Asharq Al-Awsat that Jordan is a main partner in the Middle East peace process and it plays a decisive role in achieving peace and stability in the region as part of its commitment towards the Syrian crisis and combating terrorism and violent extremism. Moreover, it is Japan’s main partner in deepening its Middle East diplomacy, he stressed. “I look forward to meeting King Abdullah II once again,” stressed Abe.
He acknowledged the Middle East peace process is passing through a “difficult phase, but we will forge ahead firmly with the peace initiative.”Moreover, he said that Japan is determined to contribute to the trust-building process between Israel and Palestine as part of the Middle East peace process.“I will explain these ideas to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,” Abe told Asharq Al-Awsat, while underling Tokyo’s commitment to the two-state solution. “We will continue to take a firm stance to support the Palestinian people,” he declared. On Japan’s economic ties with the Middle East, he said that they are not restricted to the energy sector, but they cover trade, financial, infrastructure and industry fields. A delegation of major Japanese businessmen will accompany the premier on his visit to the region. “I expect that this visit will increase the interest of Japanese companies in all of these countries,” Abe said. “They will expand their investments and projects there, transforming the visit into the foundation stone for more bolstering of ties between Japan and the Middle East,” he continued. “I hope this visit will be an opportunity to further deepen the friendship between Japan and the countries of the Middle East,” he added. On the Syrian conflict, he called for an immediate ceasefire and for allowing humanitarian aid to reach the people. “We support the efforts of the international community to resolve the problems through the political process within the framework of the United Nations,” he stressed, while condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria. On the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he said that there appeared to be no possibility for resuming direct negotiations between the two sides, which came to a halt in 2014.
“The situation is still far away from peace,” lamented Abe.

North Korea Vows to Shut Atomic Site in May
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/North Korea pledged on Sunday to shut down its atomic test site in May, Seoul said on Sunday. Pyongyang also invited US weapons experts to visit the country. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s reported promise follows weeks of whirlwind diplomacy that saw the leaders of North and South Korea agree to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula during a historic summit between Kim and the South's President Moon Jae-in on Friday. "Kim said, during the summit with President Moon, that he would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May, and would soon invite experts of South Korea and the US as well as journalists to disclose the process to the international community with transparency," Seoul's presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said. "Kim said 'the US feels repulsive about us, but once we talk, they will realize that I am not a person who will fire a nuclear weapon to the South or the US or target the US," according to Yoon. "If we meet often (with the US), build trust, end the war and eventually are promised no invasion, why would we live with the nuclear weapons?'"The remarks are likely to be seen as a sweetener ahead of US President Donald Trump's own planned summit with Kim, which the US leader said would take place "in the next three or four weeks". Trump has been eager to play up his role in achieving a breakthrough with Pyongyang through what the White House has called a "Maximum Pressure Campaign" consisting of tough rhetoric, strengthened global sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate the authoritarian regime. "If we would have said where we are today from three or four months -- months ago, do you remember what they were saying? 'He's going to get us into nuclear war, they said,'" he told supporters in Washington Township, north of Detroit. He added: "No, strength is going to keep us out of nuclear war, not going to get us in!"
But he also sounded a note of caution, saying he was prepared to walk away if US demands for North Korea to relinquish its atomic arsenal were not met. His remarks came as extracts from an interview with his new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were released. Washington's chief diplomat told ABC News he had a "good conversation" with Kim during his secret visit to Pyongyang over the Easter weekend, adding that the North Korean leader was "prepared to... lay out a map that would help us achieve" denuclearization. Trump held phone calls earlier Saturday with both Moon and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, declaring "things are going very well", as CBS News reported that Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for his meeting with Kim.
It was unclear whether North Korea would host US experts at its Punggye-ri underground testing site before or after the summit. Kim slammed speculation during his meeting with Moon that the test site was already unusable after Pyongyang conducted its largest ever nuclear test there last September. "Some people are saying that we are terminating a test site that is already useless, but, as they will see once they visit, there are two more tunnels (in the test site) that are even bigger... and they are in good condition," he said, according to the South's presidential spokesman.
Last year, Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear test and launched missiles capable of reaching the US mainland. Its actions sent tensions soaring as Kim and Trump traded personal insults and threats of war. Washington is pressing for the North to give up its weapons in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way. Pyongyang is demanding as yet unspecified security guarantees to discuss its arsenal. Later on Sunday, Kim announced that he would move the country's clocks 30 minutes forward to unify with the South's time zone as a conciliatory gesture in wake of Friday’s historic inter-Korean summit. The two countries on the divided peninsula have had different time zones since 2015 when the North suddenly changed its standard time to 30 minutes behind the South.
Pyongyang cited a nationalistic rationale, saying it would return the North to the time zone used before Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the peninsula to mark the 70th anniversary of its liberation from Tokyo. But Kim promised to change the time zone back during his summit with Moon, Yoon said. Kim said he found it "heartbreaking" to see the two wall clocks hanging at the summit room showing different times for the two neighbors, the spokesman added. "Since we were the ones who made the change from the standard time, we will go back to the original time. You can announce it publicly," Yoon quoted Kim as saying. Yoon hailed the move as a "symbolic move" for better ties between Seoul and Pyongyang.

Washington Post: Leaked Messages Confirm Qatar Paid Billions for Extremist Shi’ite Militias
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 29 April, 2018/
وثائق مسرّبة تؤكد دفع قطر مبالغ ضخمة لإرهابيين لإطلاق رعاياها المختطفين بلغت مليار دولار/
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64234
Leaked text documents and messages confirmed that Qatar paid over a billion dollars to extremist Shi’ite militias in Syria and Iraq, said a Washington Post report on Saturday. "The Syrians, ‘Hezbollah’-Lebanon, the Iraqi Hezbollah-- all want money, and this is their chance," Zayed bin Saeed al-Khayareen, Qatar's ambassador to Iraq and chief negotiator in the hostage affair, wrote in a message. "All of them are thieves." The message was sent last year in wake of the abduction of 25 Qatari citizens by Iraqi kidnappers. Qatar had kicked off secret talks to ensure their release. The bargaining however turned into a kind of group shakedown, the official said, with a half-dozen militias and foreign governments jostling to squeeze cash from Doha. Confidential documents confirmed that Qatar indeed paid these extremist Iran-backed groups, including the Lebanese “Hezbollah” and Iraqi Hezbollah. After much fretting and grousing, Qatari officials consented to payments totaling at least $275 million to free nine members of the royal family and 16 other Qatari nationals kidnapped during a hunting trip in southern Iraq, according to copies of the intercepted communications obtained by The Washington Post. The secret records reveal for the first time that the payment plan allocated an additional $150 million in cash for individuals and groups acting as intermediaries, although they have long been regarded by US officials as sponsors of international terrorism. These include Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraqi Hezbollah, a group linked to numerous lethal attacks on American troops during the Iraq War, the records show. The payments were part of a larger deal that would involve the Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish governments, as well as Lebanon's “Hezbollah” and at least two Syrian opposition groups, including the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front, reported the Post. The total sum demanded for the return of the hostages at times climbed as high as $1 billion, although it is not clear from the documents exactly how much money ultimately changed hands. Qatar, which acknowledged receiving help from multiple countries in securing the hostages' release last year, has consistently denied reports that it paid terrorist organizations as part of the deal. The leaked documents show senior Qatari diplomats appearing to sign off on a series of side payments ranging from $5 to $50 million to Iranian and Iraqi officials and paramilitary leaders, with $25 million earmarked for an Iraqi Hezbollah boss and $50 million set aside for "Qassem," an apparent reference to Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a key participant in the hostage deal. The text exchanges are part of a trove of private communications about the hostage ordeal that were surreptitiously recorded by a foreign government and provided to The Post. The intercepted communications also include cellphone conversations and voice-mail messages in Arabic that were played for Post reporters for authentication purposes, on the condition that the name of the foreign government that provided the materials not be revealed.

Pompeo’s thumbs up for Israel to counter Russian-backed Iranian drive in Syria
وزير خاجية أميركا في إسرائيل بعد السعودية لمواجهة الوجود إيراني في سوريا المدعوم من روسيا

DEBKAfile:/April 29/18
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64236
As US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sat down on Sunday, April 29 in Tel Aviv to discuss the Iranian threat, a Russian-backed Syrian force struck across the Euphrates to capture a string of US-backed fortified Kurdish SDF villages. This incursion of a key US area of influence region in eastern Syria, if confirmed, would rip up a key element of the US-Russian de-confliction zones accord and provide Iran with a springboard for a leap up to the Iraqi border.
Pompeo, on his first Middle East Trip as Secretary of State, reiterated in Tel Aviv – as he did in Riyadh earlier Sunday – that the nuclear deal will need to be fixed or it would be abandoned by President Donald Trump’s on May 12. Standing alongside Netanyahu, the secretary backed Israeli efforts to counter Iran in Syria. He said the US is committed to “rolling back to the full range of Iranian malign influence in Syria,” specifically mentioning “Iran’s missile systems, its support for Hezbollah, its importation of thousands of Shiite fighters into Syria.” Pompeo added, “We strongly support Israel’s sovereign right to defend itself.”
DEBKAfile: This was taken as a US green light for Israel to take on the elements threatening its security from Syria. The secretary also stressed that the US would continue to fight ISIS and not tolerate the Assad regime using chemical weapons.
Our military sources add: If the Syrian push into the US-held region is confirmed, it will tell the Trump administration and its new secretary of state that while they were busy arranging for US troops to leave Syria, Moscow was expanding its support for Iran to move in and deepen presence in that country.
Russia, Iran and Syria were not deterred when their attempt last year to cross the Euphrates was repulsed by the US contingent with heavy casualties inflicted on Russian forces. The same coalition tried again on February 10 and were again thrown back by the US air force. But our military sources report that, on April 13-14, shortly before the US-UK-French missile strike on Syria’s chemical weapons sites, Russian forces were seen transferring to the Syrian army upgraded bridging equipment for their new attempt on Sunday. A few hours after the Syrian army’s claims of success, however, Kurdish troops said they had mounted a counter-offensive and forced the Syrian forces “far away” from the territories they captured.
Pompeo winds up his three-day Middle East tour in Amman before returning home to Washington.
https://www.debka.com/pompeos-thumbs-up-for-israel-to-counter-russian-backed-iranian-drive-in-syria/
 
Brexit Failure Looks More Likely Every Day
Barry Ritholtz/Bloomberg/April 29/18
Today, I will violate one of my favorite principles, and hereby make this prediction: No Brexit! In other words, the U.K. will not exit the European Union. By 2023, we will look back at the entire ridiculous affair as if it were a rediscovered lost episode of “Fawlty Towers.”
Soon after the referendum in which Brits unwisely voted to leave the EU, I suggested there was a 33 percent chance that Brexit wouldn’t occur. Now, I raise that to 75 percent, and with each passing day of incompetence shown by Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration, the probabilities move higher.
With that disclosure out of the way, I’d like to explain the thinking behind this not-so-bold forecast. From the very beginning, I have been a skeptic that a full Brexit would occur. The concept was simply so foolish and self-destructive that the reasonable expectation was cooler heads would prevail. But that was a modest assumption and didn’t anticipate the feckless May government making a bad situation even worse. There seem to be several ways this can, and probably will, fall apart. In order of likelihood (recognizing a combination of any and all of these is possible):
1- Doing nothing
2- Snap parliamentary election leading to a May loss
3- New referendum
4- Ireland/Scotland make it too complicated
5- Europe makes it impossible
Let’s take a quick look at each.
Doing nothing: Article 50 of the European Union agreement has specific rules for how members can voluntarily exit the EU. The U.K. will lose the membership in both the common union and its customs agreement; a negotiated set of replacement treaties and rules would be proposed, which then would require ratification by both the EU and the U.K. The key economic aspect is that all of the advantages of the EU treaties covering trade relations among members would be replaced by less-favorable covenants. How much of a disadvantage this amounts to is the subject of debate between all concerned. The bottom line it that whether the Brits get a full withdrawal agreement, or only a temporary transitional agreement, it is likely to be much less friendly to the U.K. economy then staying in the EU. Snap election: What else could derail Brexit? How about more cabinet members supporting staying? Then there is the issue of May’s popularity: a year ago she was considered a dead woman walking. Her support is recovering among her fellow Tories, but her polling is still underwater and an electoral loss would amount to a repudiation of whatever it is she thinks she’s accomplishing. New referendum: The British public has learned much since the initial vote. About half of Brexit voters have been supportive of a second referendum (you can guess which half), amid a chorus of calls for another vote on Brexit. A steady drumbeat of media reports revealed how much misinformation and outright disinformation U.K. voters were subjected to. Robert Mercer, the right-wing billionaire formerly of giant hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, and backer of political data firm Cambridge Analytica, wanted to bring the same level of mass discontent to the U.K. he helped foment in the U.S. The Guardian called it a “hijacking of the British democracy.” Ireland/Scotland complications: Back in 2014, Scotland voted against independence from the U.K. by 55 percent to 45 percent. The Brexit vote was a shocker to the Scots, who also voted to remain in the EU. Further complicating matters are reports that Northern Ireland would be granted permission to stay in the single market. Resolving these issues makes the entire enterprise highly problematic for England. Europe makes leaving impossible: I don’t see any reason why the EU would do anything other than make this as uncomfortable for Britain as possible. Basic game theory suggests that the EU’s interests lie in the exact opposite direction, to make exiting as difficult as possible in order to discourage others from departing. There is no reason to expect the EU to reverse course. Michael Bloomberg, owner of Bloomberg LP which publishes Bloomberg View, referred to the choice of accepting a bad deal, or admitting Brexit was a mistake in the first place. The only conclusion one can draw from all of this is that the U.K.’s leaders need to make the responsible decision and stay.
 
Tunisian Islamist Party Endorses Jewish Candidate
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/April 29/18/Decked out in a striking blue suit and white shirt, matching his political allegiance, Simon Slama rubs shoulders with fellow candidates ahead of Tunisia's municipal elections. Nothing unusual about that -- except he is the only Jewish candidate, standing for the Islamist Ennahdha party. A public relations stunt for some; a sign of genuine liberalization for others. But even if Slama fares dismally come the May 6 poll, his candidacy has become a major story in the nation. This will be the first municipal vote since former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fell from power in 2011. And while Slama looks at ease, joyously clapping hands on the campaign trail in the coastal town of Monastir, the 54-year old sewing machine repairman's decision to run drew fierce initial opposition from loved ones. "All my family were against my choice. My brother was angry and my wife went days without speaking to me," the candidate tells AFP, with a timid smile and a nervous fidget of the hands.
"But I managed to convince them."
Slama and his relatives are among the small number of Jews still living in Tunisia. The community in the North African nation has shrunk from several hundred thousand before independence in 1956, to just 1,200 today. While Jews in the country, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, once served as lawmakers and even ministers, they have long since slipped to the margins of politics. Slama believes his candidacy is helping to change all that and has already "removed fears for Jewish Tunisian citizens."
'Ancient family'
Comrades in the Ennahdha party insist Slama is the right man to stand for office in Monastir -- a symbolic town for Tunisians as it is the birthplace of Habib Bourguiba, the father of the country's independence. "He comes from an ancient family. He has his roots in Monastir... and he knows the town's problems," says Chokri ben Janet, who heads the party's candidate list in the town. Slama says that despite its history as an Islamist party he opted for Ennahdha out of political conviction, describing it as "the most active and the most serious on the political scene". "Ennahdha has changed its strategy -- it is no longer a religious party, it is a civil party," he says. The party is a junior partner in a coalition led by President Beji Caid Essebsi and his Nidaa Tounes party.  Taking stock from its experience in power after the 2011 revolution, it has worked hard to modernize its image. It opposed a project to criminalize any attempt to normalize relations with Israel; a vote on the proposal was dropped this winter. Now some of its leading candidates are women who don't wear the Islamic veil. All of these changes -- including Slama's candidacy -- have drawn derision from some political opponents who accuse the group of simple opportunism to bolster its vote. Top Nidaa Tounes official Borhane Bassais called it a "political striptease."
Torah and Koran
Others say that interest in Slama's candidacy highlights that while Jews can practice their religion freely they remain an anomaly in Tunisia -- and shows the country still has a long way to go on minority rights. The media frenzy is testament to "this obsession we have of judging (people) on the basis of something so personal as their religious conviction," says Yamina Thabet, an official for Tunisia's Association for the Support of Minorities. Some noteworthy figures have, nonetheless, thrown their weight behind Slama's bid for a seat. "This candidacy brings pride for the Jewish community," says Rene Trabelsi, who organizes the Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia's famous Ghriba synagogue, on the island of Djerba. "It has created a positive image of an open Tunisia that we can all share," says the businessman, who was once a contender to become tourism minister. And as for the candidate himself -- he appears comfortable with his identity and the attention his foray into politics has garnered. If he wins, Slama says, he is ready to take the oath of office on "both the books" -- the Jewish Torah and the Muslim Koran.

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 29-30/18
A Nobel Prize for Trump and Kim Is No Joke
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/April 29/18
Coral, one of the top British bookmakers, has Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un as favorites — at 2/1 odds — to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year. They’re ahead of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Pope Francis and other potential winners. If their talks go as well as Friday’s summit between Kim and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, and peace is restored to the Korean peninsula, they’ll both deserve it. There’s a lesson in this, and it’s about more than “normalization” — a phrase we’ve been endlessly cautioned to avoid with both Kim and Trump. The nastiest, most distasteful people, even ruthless dictators and mass murderers, can and should be celebrated for specific actions that make the world a safer place. In some cases, these actions will — and should — form their principal legacy. Take Winston Churchill. Reacting to the 2017 movie “Darkest Hour,” which presented the British war leader as a brilliant, idiosyncratic contrarian battling an anemic elite to end Nazi appeasement, Shashi Tharoor, head of the Indian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee wrote provocatively in The Washington Post: “He was one of the great mass murderers of the 20th century, yet is the only one, unlike Hitler and Stalin, to have escaped historical odium in the West.”
He cataloged scorched earth tactics against rebels in the British colonies, a part in engineering the 1943 Bengal famine, and the firebombing of Dresden in 1945. The precise accusations and their context are for historians to argue about. Churchill is rightly lionized for standing up to the Nazis, his greatest achievement; it doesn’t just tip the scale in his favor when weighed against his dark side — for many whose family histories would have ended or taken a gloomy direction under victorious Nazis, it tends to wipe the slate clean.
Similarly, one could argue that nothing that has happened since the millennium could match a potential Korean peace deal. The conflict that split Korea is probably the biggest piece of unfinished 20th-century business that carried over into this century. It began in 1948, grew into a hot proxy war between the Soviet Union and the US; dragged China in; and continued to its current, arguably even more complex phase. It has created one of the last divided nations on earth, ruled by regimes that couldn’t be more different — the South Korean technocracy and the North Korean ideological state driven by a cult of personality.  It also continues to stand as a lasting consequence of the old US. approach to war, with the merciless carpet-bombing that Japan and Germany have worked to forgive but the North Korean regime has made sure its citizens continue to hold against the US. Perhaps the breathless coverage of the talks between Kim and Moon, their smiles and handshakes, and their seemingly unstaged forays to the opposite sides of the world’s most fortified border is premature. Perhaps Kim’s words about the start of “a new history” and “an age of peace” are just rhetoric meant to get the West to soften sanctions against North Korea in exchange for some meaningless promises.
North Korean hackers have just been linked to a massive worldwide cyberattack meant to steal data about Western critical infrastructure and key industries. And Kim is still the same ruler who has used torture, hard labor, relentless propaganda and dehumanizing social practices to beat his subjects into submission, as his father and grandfather had done before him. There’s no reason why he should suddenly stop and act more like the popular Swiss private school student he once was. It’s difficult to see how he can afford to without losing power.  Trump is also still Trump. He mocked Kim as “Little Rocket Man,” then switched seamlessly to a respectful tone — all without displaying any understanding of the Korean issue’s complexities. So don’t count on me to scowl at the “normalization” of Trump and Kim. Peace is fragile. It’s also the ultimate achievement for a leader. Those who attain it are heroes, whatever else they are.

Pompeo After Meeting Netanyahu: If Iran Nuclear Deal Can't Be Fixed, It Will Be Nixed
بومبيو بعد لقاء نتنياهو: إذا كان لا يمكن إصلاح الصفقة النووية الإيرانية ، فسوف يتم رفضها ومعارضتها

Noa Landau and Jack Khoury/Haaretz/April 29/2018
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/64240
Secretary of state: U.S. still committed to Israeli-Palestinian peace deal
Netanyahu: Greatest global threat is Islamic radicals with nukes
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday that the United States will cancel the Iran nuclear deal if it is not fixed.
Speaking to reporters following the meeting, which took place at the Israeli military's headquarters in Tel Aviv, Pompeo said the U.S. stands with Israel against Iran. "We remain deeply concerned about Iran's dangerous escalation of threats toward Israel and the region," Pompeo said, adding that the U.S. supports Israel's right to defend itself.
Pompeo called the deal signed between Iran and world powers to curb Tehran's nuclear program "very flawed" and said U.S. President Donald Trump has "directed the administration to try and fix it, and if we can’t fix it, he’s going to withdraw from the deal.
According to Pompeo, strong ties with allies like Israel are "critical to our efforts to counter Iran’s destabilizing and malign activity throughout the Middle East, and indeed throughout the world." Pompeo said Washington is also focusing on "non-nuclear threats" posed by the Islamic Republic, such as its missile systems, support for Hezbollah, its fighters in Syria and its assistance to Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pompeo said "the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem remain subject to negotiations between the parties." He added that Washington remains "committed to achieving a lasting and comprehensive peace that offers a brighter future for both Israel and the Palestinians."
Washington is "incredibly proud" to open the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14th, Pompeo said, noting that "by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the seat of its government, we’re recognizing reality."
He also raised the question of Syria, saying that America's main goals are to defeat ISIS, prevent the use of chemical weapons and obtain a diplomatic agreement to end the country's years-long civil war.
Pompeo kicked off his statement by saying that "it is a great honor to be here on my first trip as Secretary of State.... I haven’t been to my office yet." Pompeo was sworn in as secretary of state on April 26, nearly a month after Trump announced he had nominated the former CIA director to replace Rex Tillerson.
Speaking before Pompeo, Netanyahu told reporters that the greatest global threat is "the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons, and specifically the attempt of Iran to acquire nuclear weapons." Netanyahu said Iran's "aggression has grown many-fold since the signing of the nuclear deal" and expressed his appreciation for Washington's position on the topic.
"If people thought that Iran’s aggression would be moderated as a result of signing the deal, the opposite has happened, and Iran is trying to gobble up one country after the other. Iran must be stopped," Netanyahu said.
Describing Trump's decision to transfer the embassy to Jerusalem as "bold," Netanyahu said the move "has prompted other countries, quite a few now, who are planning to move their embassy to Jerusalem as well." Netanyahu called Pompeo "a true friend of Israel, a true friend of the Jewish people" and said Washington's decision to include Israel on Pompeo's first trip as secretary of state is "symbolic of our friendship, which is getting even deeper and stronger."
The meeting was held less than two weeks before the May 12 deadline for Trump to decide whether to re-impose sanctions against Iran that were removed as part of the deal on its nuclear program. The audience included, among others, U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
According to a Palestinian official, Pompeo did not seek meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas or any Palestinian officials during his visit to Israel. Nabil Shaath, an Abbas aide, told Haaretz no one in Pomeo's bureau petitioned a meeting with the Palestinian president, and added that "even if there was such a petition, the official Palestinian stance remains unchanged, and it is not to meet."
Pompeo, a former CIA director, is thought to be a key supporter of the Netanyahu government's politics, and he holds hawkish views on Iran. His appointment was seen as a step toward a tougher American policy regarding Tehran, with U.S. President Donald Trump recently vowing to cancel the Iran nuclear deal if significant changes are not made.
Earlier Sunday, ahead of the government cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu brought up his meeting with Pomepo, saying: "Today we will welcome U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a true friend of Israel. I think that it is important that he is coming to Israel as part of his first visit outside the U.S. as Secretary of State."
The premier added that relations between Israel and the U.S. "are stronger than ever and I would like to take this opportunity to again to thank President Trump for the decision to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, which will take place in a few days. At the time, I said there would be other countries to join this move and I can tell you these things are indeed happening."
Prior to landing in Israel, Pompeo met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman and other officials in Riyadh. Pompeo reassured the kingdom that the U.S. would abandon the nuclear deal unless there is an agreement in talks with European partners to improve it to make sure the Islamic Republic never possesses a nuclear weapons
"Iran destabilizes this entire region," Pompeo said in a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. "It supports proxy militias and terrorist groups. It is an arms dealer to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It supports the murderous Assad regime (in Syria) as well."
Pompeo also addressed the rift between some Gulf countries and Qatar: "Gulf unity is necessary and we need to achieve it."
Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, cut off travel and trade ties with Qatar last June, accusing it of supporting terrorism and arch-rival Iran on the other side of the Gulf.
Doha has denied the accusations and has said its three fellow Gulf countries aim to curtail its sovereignty. For its part, Iran denies supporting terrorism or having sought to develop nuclear weapons.
On Friday at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, the first stop on his trip, Pompeo repeated Trump's pledge to withdraw from the Iran deal unless it is significantly strengthened. He said the U.S. was "unlikely" to stay in if that was not done.
"Absent a substantial fix, absent overcoming the shortcomings, the flaws of the deal, he is unlikely to stay in that deal past this May," Pompeo said.
*AP contributed to this report.

Lebanese Shiites, too prominent to be monopolized by anyone
شيعة لبنان أكبر من أن يحتكرهم أحد!
Hassan Al Mustafa//Al Arabiya/April 29/18/
Despite the violent civil war and armed sectarian conflict, Lebanon’s society has remained open to plurality, diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. You won’t find a religious sect that has isolated itself in this small Mediterranean country. Everyone, without exception, exudes political, social and intellectual vitality that makes plurality a major feature of the country.
Shiite diversity of political views
It’s true that leaders of sects are still present and continue to use rhetoric to mobilize people against each other; however this exhortation is only used to serve certain vested interests, usually during elections or in times of disputes over economic matters. The aim is to achieve goals within the framework of “political quotas” which is actually the “golden” rule for administrative and financial corruption.
Shiites in Lebanon are part of this diversity and they cannot be dealt with as one deaf bloc that follows just one leader without questioning where he is taking the community and what kind of future plan he has for it. Historically speaking, many Shiites have been active in leftist and nationalist struggle movements in the mid-20th century. The most prominent ideologues of leftist thought were Shiites like the late Hussein Mroueh and Mahdi Amal. Shiites are now also at the forefront of secular intellectuals and writers who believe in the importance of deconstructing extremist speeches – fields which intellectuals like Ali Harb have written about. Thanks to his views, Ali Harb — who is influenced by French philosophy — is considered as one of the most prominent Arab intellectuals with a deconstructionist approach.
The religious movement itself also included references and intellectuals who created cultural diversity that developed an atmosphere of discussion and debate, which was not common in traditional Shiite circles. Sayyed Hani Fahs and Sayyed Mohammed Hassan al-Amin were two examples of the politically open religious figures who believed in the civil state and reconciled with “secularism” and who were not afraid of the “other” but believed in its significance for self-fulfillment. There are many other Shiite models as well. Some are characterized by their deep intellect and political maturity and some are not as mature - however, all of them definitely contribute to diversity that enriches Lebanon and the society. Today, Shiites in Lebanon are part of this entity. They present themselves as citizens and not as followers of a certain sect. They believe in the state as the reference and in the importance of working to remove sectarianism from political life and reduce the extent of sectarian tensions which are caused by conflicts among political parties.
An intolerable invective
This awareness that has been building must not be suppressed or pictured as a reflection of familial or personal interests or as if this elite is a bunch of mercenaries and egoists who sold themselves at the embassies’ auctions!
The term “the Shiite of the embassy” is nothing more than an invective that is so vile that it ill behooves those who use it against those who disagree with them. It’s a phrase that’s used as a weapon to execute rivals and distort their political history.
Opportunists are present in every movement, sect and group but projecting anyone who disagrees with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement as traitors and agents of Washington and people who receive bribes and stab their people in the back is an obvious lie.
This civil vitality in Lebanese Shiite circles must be strengthened and dealt with in a mature way to establish a public opinion that does not have sectarian biases and so individuals can present themselves as Lebanese citizens while overcoming the narrow identities of any religion or sect.


شيعة لبنان أكبر من أن يحتكرهم أحد!

حسن المصطفى
الرياض/27 نيسان/18
لبنان كمجتمع، رغم ما شهده من حرب أهلية عنيفة، والنزاعات الطائفية المسلحة، التي انعكست كثقافة في عقول ونفوس الكثيرين، إلا أنه بقي مساحة للتعدد والاختلاف وقبول الآخر، وبيئة للحريات الفردية.
لن تجد في هذا البلد المتوسطي الصغير طائفة دينية منغلقة على نفسها، الجميع دون استثناء يتميزون بحيوية فكرية وسياسية ومجتمعية، تجعل التعدد سمة رئيسة لا يمكن تجاوزها.
صحيح أن زعماء الطوائف لا يزال لهم حضورهم، ويستخدمون لغة أقلوية لشد العصب، وحشد الجمهور ضد الآخر، إلا أنها مجرد خطاب نفعي، يستخدم في اللحظات الانتخابية، أو المواجهات السياسية ذات الطابع الاقتصادي، التي يراد الانتفاع منها، ضمن مبدأ «المحاصصة السياسية»، وهي القاعدة «الذهبية» للفساد المالي والإداري!
المسلمون الشيعة في لبنان هم جزء من هذا التنوع، الذي لا يمكن التعامل معه بوصفه كتلة واحدة صماء، تسير خلف زعيم واحد، منقادة له، غير متسائلة إلى أين يأخذها، أو أي مشروع مستقبلي يرسمه لها؟! تاريخياً، شكل الكثير من الشيعة خزاناً للحركات اليسارية في منتصف القرن الميلادي المنصرم، وكانوا كوادر فاعلة في حركات النضال الوطني، وشكلت أسماء مهمة منهم أبرز المنظرين للفكر اليساري، مثل الراحلين حسين مروة ومهدي عامل. كما أنهم الآن في طليعة الكتاب والمثقفين العلمانيين، المؤمنين بأهمية تفكيك الخطابات المتطرفة، وتجاوز التراث، وهي الحقول التي كتب فيها مثقف مثل علي حرب، يعتبر في أطروحاته من أبرز المفكرين العرب ذي النزعة التفكيكية، والمتأثر بالفلسفة الفرنسية.
التيار الديني هو الآخر اشتمل على مرجعيات ومثقفين، شكلوا تنوعاً ثقافياً، عمل على خلق جو من النقاشات والجدل، لم تكن معتادة في الأوساط الشيعية التقليدية.
السيدان هاني فحص، ومحمد حسن الأمين، شكلا هما بدورهما مثالاً على عالم الدين المنفتح سياسياً، المؤمن بالدولة المدنية، المتصالح مع «العلمانية»، وغير المتوجس من الآخر، بل المؤمن بضرورته لاكتمال الذات.
أسماء كثيرة في الساحة الشيعية الآن، بعضها يتسم بالعمق الفكري والنضج السياسي، والآخرون ربما يكونون على قدر أقل من الوعي، إلا أنهم بالتأكيد يشكلون تنوعاً يثري لبنان الدولة أولاً، ومجتمعهم المحلي ثانياً.
الشيعة في لبنان اليوم هم جزء من الكيان، يقدمون أنفسهم بوصفهم مواطنين أولاً، وليس بصفتهم أتباع مذهب معين، يؤمنون بمرجعية الدولة، وأهمية العمل على نزع الطائفية من الحياة السياسية، وتخفيف حدة الاحتقانات المذهبية التي سببتها النزاعات بين الفرقاء السياسيين.
هذا الوعي المتشكل يجب ألا يقمع، أو يصور وكأنه انعكاس لمصالح ذاتية أو أسرية، وكأن هذه النخبة ليست إلا حفنة من المرتزقة والأنانيين الذين باعوا أنفسهم في مزاد السفارات!
«شيعة السفارة»، ليس إلا مجرد توصيف قدحي، لا يليق بأن يشهره أصحابه في وجه المختلفين معهم، هي مقولة بمثابة سلاح يمارس لإعدام الخصوم، وتشويه تاريخهم السياسي.
الانتهازيون موجودون في كل تيار، وطائفة، وجماعة. ولكن أن يتم تصوير كل من اختلف مع حزب الله وحركة أمل بأنهم خائنون، وعملاء لواشنطن، ويتلقون الرشاوى، ويطعنون أهلهم في الظهر، فذلك كذب بواح. هذه الحيوية المدنية في الأوساط اللبنانية الشيعية يجب تعزيزها، والتعامل معها بوعي؛ لتأسيس رأي عام غير منحاز مذهبياً، لكي يقدم الفرد نفسه بوصفه لبنانياً وفقط، متجاوزاً الهويات الضيقة لأي دين أو طائفة انتمت.

Iraq: Not a functioning state, but we think it is!
Adnan Hussein/Al Arabiya/April 29/18/
“Do we have a state in the first place?” I concluded a column earlier this week with this question that has been asked for 15 years, and it seems it is going to be asked for perhaps another 15 years. Political Islam groups have governed Iraq for all this time and despite their failure, they’ve been clinging on to authority.
No traffic laws
Yes, we do not have a state in Iraq but it just looks like a state to us. There is no country in the world, even an underdeveloped one, which does not, for example, have a traffic law. It is in our “state” that you do not see any sign of traffic laws on the streets, squares and highways. Car drivers, motorcycle riders and pedestrians do not abide by the traffic law. The traffic police also does not abide by it or work to impose it. Even the traffic lights lack a functional system! Let’s put the traffic law aside. Here is a story about our “new” Iraq that documents and proves that Islamist groups, after ruling for 15 years, have not been able to establish a state and will never do. A university lecturer of repute, whom I do now know personally but whose colleagues all speak well of her competence, was fired because she was absent from work for a few days at a time when people were being killed during the peak of the sectarian violence.
She and her family had been threatened to be killed based on their sect, so she decided to stay home out of fear the threat will be carried out. She later returned to her job, “theoretically,” based on a ministerial order that directed returning those who were forcibly displaced to their jobs. However, the dean of the college refused to execute the order. The prestigious academic was thus fired and she has now joined the unemployed force, whose number is increasing. There are thousands of other stories that resemble this one which I may not have brought up if I hadn’t checked the recent report of the Iraqi parliamentary center of the Madarik foundation for studying the mechanisms of conceptual promotion. The report reveals a huge political scandal. It’s huge because it seriously violates the internal system of parliament which states that if a member remains absent for over a third of the sessions of the council, his/her membership would be terminated and h/she would be replaced by another person. The report indicates that in the first legislative term of the fourth year of the third electoral cycle, between 4/7/2017 and 27/11/2017, there were 15 deputies from various blocs with the percentage of their absenteeism ranging between 35% and 88%!
Undermining people’s interests
The presidency of the parliament which is made up of Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and his two deputies Humam Hamoudi and Aram Sheikh Mohammed perjured their oaths and did not commit to the internal system. These 15 MPs continued to enjoy full authority and privileges, including being absent without being held accountable, as if they had been doing their duties and responsibilities to the fullest! Of course they were not held accountable because there are political and non-political interests the presidency members and their blocs which put their own interests before the country’s and the people’s interests.
A distinguished university lecturer who had to be absent for a few days against her will and due to sectarian killings was fired while 15 MPs who were absent for so many times were rewarded and saluted!
Did I not say we do not have a state, but it looks like one to us!

The new UN envoy’s almost impossible mission with the Houthis
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/April 29/18/
Does the new UN special envoy have a plan for Yemen that differs from that of his predecessors’? Asharq Al-Awsat has learnt from high-ranking sources that the most important features of the new plan of UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths includes “withdrawing arms and planning a transitional phase that includes Houthi participation in the government and ends with elections.”These general points for the new plan on which the new peace envoy is working on falls within the general context of the political solution that’s based on relevant international resolutions, the Gulf initiative or the Yemeni national dialogue. The Houthis and Saleh’s party were present in Yemeni national dialogue discussions. Perhaps some people, including myself, denounce the idea that Houthis should have any place in Yemen’s political future and believe this group should not be engaged with at all as its ideology must only be dealt on par with that of Nazis and other fascist movements following World War II: via prohibition and prosecution.
Any apparent Houthi flexibility seeking talks is merely a ruse for gaining time
This is a fair and rational request that takes into consideration protecting Yemen’s future on the long term. However, if we are to realistically look at the matter, disarming the group and depriving it of its military capabilities will turn it into a toothless tiger. More importantly, the group’s legitimacy, according to its followers, is linked to the permanence of war and the sanctification of divine weapons within the efforts of the “Hashemite Quranic march.”
I think the Houthis’ core remains inflexible and does not accept dialogue or else it would immediately break. Just like his predecessor, the Mauritanian Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed eventually realized, British envoy Griffiths will also come to realize that he’s chasing a Houthi smokescreen.
Any apparent Houthi flexibility seeking political talks instead of resorting to the language of weapons and to the threats of Abdulmalik al-Houthi, Abu Ali al-Hakeem or their new prime minister, the extremely dreamy Mahdi al-Mashat is a tactical flexibility that is only meant to gain time. The Houthis’ doctrine is aggressive and is based on gobbling up others and is certainly invasive – anything else is mere talk.
As the foreigners say, we tell Mr. Griffiths: “Good luck!”